Whether you run across a video that’s “not available in your country” for some reason or one that’s age-restricted, you can bypass these with a quick URL trick. This will open any video in a full-screen window, hide ads, and bypass age restrictions.

Visit any video on YouTube to start. Here’s a restricted URL for an example:

youtube.com/watch?v=wvZ6nB3cl1w

In the URL, remove the watch? and replace the = with another / to sandwich the v in between slashes. So the above URL would now become this:

youtube.com/v/wvZ6nB3cl1w

That’s all you have to do! Of course, you can bypass age-restricted videos by signing in, but this is a quick way to view them without having to sign in on a public computer. You shouldn’t need this trick too often, but it’s useful when you come across that one video that won’t play.

Ben is a Deputy Editor at MakeUseOf. He holds a B.S. in Computer Information Systems from Grove City College, where he graduated Cum Laude and with Honors in his major. He enjoys helping others and is passionate about video games as a medium.